Geneva: 2009 Preview

March 24, 2009 -

Geneva

16-5

4

8

March, 2009 - Geneva ended their league season second in Finger Lakes Division I with a 3-3 record (14-4 overall). Seeded first in the Class B tournament, the Panthers defeated Aquinas 14-13 to become the Section Five Class B Champions. The Panthers lost to Hamburg (Section 6) in the first round of the state tournament 13-9.

Geneva was trailing Aquinas by three goals going into the final 1:16 of the competition, however, the Panthers refused to give up and scored four goals to capture the title. Geneva will look to that dedication and heart this season as they attempt to extend their sectional championship streak to four. With their move back to Class C, Geneva is looking to challenge Penn Yan, who are looking for their twelfth consecutive title.

The Panthers lost a number of strong offensive players this season. All Tournament MVP and 1st team All County midfielder Jim Warner (Penn State), all tournament and 1st team All County attackman Kyle Boncaro (Goucher), 1st team All County midfielder Willie Rago, and all tournament and 1st team All County attackman and leading team scorer Alex Love (senior year at Salisbury Prep) will all be serious offensive losses for the Panthers. Goalie Kyle Brimm (Wells) will also be difficult to replace in the cage.

Offensively, the loss of Love will be difficult for the Panthers. Love finished last season 2nd in goals, 4th in assists and 1st in points in all of Section Five. However, Eric Legott (28g-12a) and Frank Triana (7-2) will both return to the attack for Geneva. Legott was fourth in points for the Panthers and Triana was sixth. Returning to the midfield are Chris Tapscott and Jeff Springmeir. Coach LJ Russell says, "We will depend on some young but talented players to fill the holes."

Defensively, the Panthers are much more stable with Tyler Travis, Bobby Martin, Mike Warner and Ross Dinan all returning. Dinan returns this year starting in the cage, last year Dinan split time with Brimm and is returning with a 55% save percentage with 107 minutes between the pipes. Travis, Martin and Warner were all named to the 1st team All County last year.

Coach Russell has scheduled out of league games against Aquinas, Livonia, McQuaid Jesuit, Webster Schroeder and Corning West.